Center jack for container cars



Dec. 30, 1930. w. P. KELLETT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 r1 entor. 3 William P/affs/(a/lc/i.

Dec. 30, 1930. w KELLETT 1,786,620

CENTER JACK FOR CONTAINER CARS I Filed Se t. 14, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 30, 1930 'ITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'WIILIA'M PLATTS KELLETT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CENTER JACK FOB CONTAINER CARS Application filed September 14, 1929. Serial 110. 382,554.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a jack or buffer centrally located upon a railway car to form an end stop against which a removable container mount- 5 ed on the car will engage to limit the movement thereof, and further to provide a construction of jack which will be instantly available for securing a container mounted from either end of the car and which may be to moved from its elevated position to a depressed position to clear the container and allow its removal from the car.

A still further object is to devise a construction of jack which will be very rugged of a car showing the jack in its raised position.

Figure at is an enlarged elevational view of the jack showing its support arrangement.

in the transportation of containers upon railway flat cars it is most important that means he provided for effectively supporting the containers from endwise movement and in my previous Patent No. 1,675,562 I have shown end jacks for limiting the endwise movement of a group of containers upon a car. 1

It is frequently found necessary to operate a car with either one half-car-load container or two quarter-car-load containers and the present invention provides a means for effectively holding suchcontainers atone end of the car. a

The frame of the railway car 1 is provided with a pair of cross beams 2 spaced apart and arranged mid-way of the length of the car and on the top of these beams are mounted the angle plates 3 arranged between the trackways 4 for acco odating the; roller 5 of the car structure.

Mounted upon the plates 3 directly over the cross beams 2 are a pair of castings 6, each of which is provided with a bearing socket 7.

A squared steel shaft 8 is provided with rounded trunnion ends 9. The trunnion ends are formed with cross holes 10 therethrough, f

through which a lockin in 11 may be inserted to hold the shaft rigidly from turning.

Slidablymountedupon the squared central portion of the shaft 8 is the jack member 12 which has a squared sleeve portion 13 and an extension portion with rounded buifer heads 14 supported I by transverse webs 15. 7

The castingsti, the jack l2 and the shaft 8 are of very substantial proportions and are adapted to effectively resist'very heavy strains.

In the use of the device, the jack member is swung upwardly to the position illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, turning on the trunnion ends of the shaft 8 in the cast-- ings 6.

The lock pin 11 is then inserted through the hole in the to of either one of the castings and passes t rough the corresponding registering hole in the shaft, thereby looking the device with the'jack in the raised position so that the butter heads 14 will be engaged by the buffers of a container mounted upon the car.

The length of the shaft 8 and the distance supports of the containers and the side beams between the castings 6 is such'that the jack will slide on the shaft a distance equal to half the buffer length on a-container so that when the container is mounted upon the railway car the center jack will, when the container is moved into contact therewith, move to the end of its supporting shaft and abut/one of the end castings, thus any thrust applied by the container is taken by the slidable jack member and imparted directly against the abutting casting secured to the frame.

The device is extremely simple but very eflicient.

When av full car load of containers is mounted on the car this center buffer is turned downwardly to the position shown in Figure 2 so that it will not obstruct the free movement of the containers.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A jack for container cars having bufiers at the ends, comprising a buffer member pivotally mounted and adjustable longitudinally intermediate of the length of the car.

2. A jack for container cars, comprising a buffer member pivotally mounted between a pair of rigid spaced bracket supports and being adapted to be moved freely into contact with either of said spaced bracket supports in accordance With the location of the container to be engaged thereby.

3. A jack for container cars, comprising a pair of rigidly mounted brackets spaced apart having journal supports therein a shaft having its ends journalled in said bracket, and a buffer member mounted on said shaft for free sliding movement between said brackets and adapted to engage either one thereof in accordance with the location of the container with which said buffer member co-operates.

4. A j aclr for container cars, comprising apair of rigid supports having oppositely arranged journal bearings a squared shaft having trunnion ends journalled in said bearings, a buffer member having a squared sleeve slidably arranged on said squared shaft, and a buffer portion extending from the sleeve and adapted to be swung to a vertical position or to a horizontal position.

A jack for container cars, comprising a pair of rigid brackets having journal bearings oppositely arranged, a shaft rotatably mounted in said bearings a buffer member non-rotatably mounted on said shaft and slidable thereon, and means for locking the shaft with the buffer member held in the raised position.

(l. A center jack for container cars, com prising the combination with the railway car, of a pair of rigid supports extending transversely of the car and spaced apart, bracket members rigidly mounted on said transverse supports and having aligned bearings, a shaft journalled in said bearings, a sleeve member slidably and non-rotatably mounted on said shaft and having an extension buffer member and adapted to be swung with said shaft in its bearings to a vertical or horizontal position, and a key member adapted to be inserted through the bearings into said shaft to lock the buffer memher in a vertical position.

'ILLIAM PLATT S KELLET'I. 

